How I created a dedicated bass part for the sextet version of Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante

Achieving sounds ranging between delicacy and boldness, as well as everything in between, the double bassist shares her thoughts and advice on fulfilling multiple roles in a chamber arrangement of Mozart’s work, which was recently performed at the Solsberg Festival.

The best things in life tend to happen unplanned: as I was leaving the first rehearsal of Strauss Metamorphosen at the Solsberg Festival, I was asked unexpectedly to add a bass part to Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante arranged for string sextet.

What does one expect from a bass player in this situation? If you think it just involves doubling some of the parts of the piece, I must tell you, from personal experience, that it will not make much musical sense within the ensemble at the first rehearsal. Other members of the ensemble will cut you off at some point thinking that it sounds too heavy - even if you are not playing heavily! This is not ideal as a bass player, because playing chamber arrangements of fantastic repertoire is a great, and possibly rare opportunity for us, so we want to make the most of it. 

For an arrangement that was not intended for double bass specifically, such as the Mozart Sinfonia concertante, you will face a few challenges as a bass player: the octave ranges, playability, sound texture and articulation. What is most important  is that it shouldn’t become or sound symphonic with your participation, meaning neither too heavy nor too light. To be in the middle of this range is what becomes challenging as a bass player. I call this the art of ’To be, AND not to be’.

How does a bass player build their part? First of all, I would advise you to find the octaves that …

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